Hard-rubber disk and ball for disk water-meters.



No.806,2l1. PATENTED DEG. 5, 1905- j J. THOMSON. HARD RUBBER'DIs-KAND BALLPOR` DISKWATBR METERS.

`PELIGA'IION' FILED JUNE 8, 1904. y I

2 sHBgTssHBBT 1.

No. 806,211. v .PATENTDD DDG. 5, 1905.

l J'. THOMSON. l HARD RUBBER DISK AND BALL PDR DISK WATER METERS.A

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 8, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN THOMSON, OF' NEW YORK, N.

PATENT .,OFFIOH.

Y.; A'ssIGNoR To `NHPTUNR METER OOMPANY."OF LONGr ISLAND OITY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

HARD-RUBBER vDISK ANMD BALL FOR DISK WATER-METERSa To all whom it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, JOHN THOMSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city of New York,- in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Hard-Rubber Disks and Balls for Disk Water-Meters,.of which the following is a specification.

This inventionrelates primarily to the man ufacture of diskwater-meters, and has for its principal object the production of the pistons .composed of hard-rubber disks and balls used infsuch apparatus with a higher degree of relative accuracy, homogeneity, and uniformityof strength than heretofore.

Heretofore 'the disks and balls for disk wa- .l4 :ter-meters wereordinarily rough-molded and then machined to bring them tothe accurate` dimensions requisite for the proportions of a water-meter or the disks and balls were made as separate Aparts and then applied one to the' -other to form an integral part.

Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to mold such disks and balls in oneconcretepart in accurately-formed metal dies with such a degree of compression as would avoid subsequent machining, and in this connection it may be' stated that hard rubber is a very difficult material to machine accurately, as it soon bluntsv the tool-point, even -in the instance of diamonds. One of the dificulties that has here-V toforebeen encountered in producing such parts to finished dimensions in a die has been the inability to secure uniformity inl the diameter of the ball. Thuslin such practice the ball may be found to be of aless or even a greater dimension than that of the socket of the die which formed it. I havel found that in consequence of the greater mass and thickness of material contained in the ball over Specification of Letters Patent. Application ined June 8,1904.. seriaiNo. 211,606.

, preferably employ in Patented Dec. 5, 1905.

conditions, too,the ball is liable to distort due to molecular disturbance of the differentiallytreated material and in service is more sensi'- -tioned difliculties, and in the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof, I have illustrated an apparatus devised by me which I carrying out my invention, and in which- Figure l is a top View of the said apparatus devised by me. cal section, partly in elevation, of the apparatus shown in Fig.v 1. Fig. 3 is aside view of the apparatus looking in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 2. Fig. L is a plan view of the upper die. upper die on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4:. Fig. Gis an elevation of the wedge which is inserted in the space therefor in both the upper and lower dies forthe purpose of producing the slot in the disk. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of the wedge on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a plan View of the completed disk; and Fig. 9 is a transverse section of the completed disk y through the line 9 9 of Fig. 8, showing the ball and spindle in elevation.

A is a tubular holder or container for re- Fig. 5 is a vertical section of thel Fig. 2 is a central verticeiving two coperating dies, the upper die'A vided `with a neck F G, that protrude 'within the holder A'from opposite ends, engaging and vcoperating with the upper and lower dies B C, respectively, land forming stopsv limiting the dies in their movement toward each other.

In practicing-my invention I employ the well-known dust process, in which adeinite quantity of dust is weighed out for each operation of the die and is thereafter sub- Ajected to heavy external pressure in a hydrauthe lower'inclosinghead E will be placed in position and the holder A slipped over 'the neck ofthe head E, as shown vin Fig. 2. Then l the lower die C -is inserted in the holder A, this lower die C being provided with a central orifice H and a socket I, of less dimension than a hemisphere, designed to eoperate with a similar socket J, of less dimension than a hemisphere, in the upper die B. Then I take a ball or core of metal or of prevulcanized rubber the coefficient of expansion of which is identical with hard rubber, or of yellow brass, or of aluminium, or of an alloy of aluminium and zinc, the coeiiicient of expansion of which materials is substantially identical with that of hard rubber or of any other suitable material having substantially the same coeiicient of expansion as hard rubber, which material is indicated at K preferably of such diameter that the thickness of the enveloping rubber or other material will be approximately equal to the thickness of the disk desired to be produced in the mold, and in order to properly7 sustain the core K centrally within the die-cavity during the molding process I preferably make use of the disk spindle L, this being inserted in the central orifice H in the lower die, this spindle L being connected with or passed through the core K, as shown in Figs. Qand 9, and, as shown in Fig. 2, when this central core and its attached spindle have been inserted in position the free end of the spindle L will rest upon the neck G of the lower inclosing head E, forming a bearing therefor. Then I weigh out the requisite quantity of rubber-dust or other suitable compound and a small amount slightly in excess of the quantity necessary to produce the completed product and pour such dust into the holder A, onto the lower die C, and in the socket or cavity I therein and around the central core K, and then I insert the upper die B, and over the upper die B and holder A, I then place the upper inclosing headD, the neck F of said inclosing head engaging with the die B.

Each of the dies B and C is provided with a vertical wedge-shaped recess or slot M, in which slot is placed a wedge-shaped piece N, (see Figs. 6 and 7,) provided with a central circular recess O, (shown in Fig. 6,) the purpose of which wedge-shaped piece N being to produce the slot I of the finished disk, as shown in Fig. 9, this wedge-shaped piece being inserted in the die C before the dust is put in, the die B being slid thereover when it is inserted in position after the dust has been put in. as before explained, the general conformation of the cavity formed 'between the dies B and C being shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The upper die B is provided with a central orifice or socketR, in which is inserted a plunger S, the purpose of this vertical orifice or socket R being to receive the excess of material that may have been put in the die over the quantity necessary to produce the finished product, and after the process of vulcanization has been completed if this excess of quantity shall have been enough to extend into the orifice R there will have been produced upon the exterior surface of the molded ball a teat T, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9,) the length of said teat being governed by the quantity of the excess of material, and this teat can be readily removed after the product has been removed from the mold.

The shaft of the plunger S is long enough to extend a short distance into the mold-cavity if the quantity of vulcanizable material in the cavity will permit; but it is prevented from protruding too far into said cavity by the shoulder or stop a, with which the head of the plunger S will engage, as shown in Fig. 2.

In order to apply pressure to the plunger S, the holder A is provided with a fiange or bracket b, which is secured thereto, furnishing a bearing for a pivot-pin c, to which is connected or pivoted a link d, composed of two bars, these bars being separated by the washer e, the free ends of these bars being connected by a pin g, with which one hooked end of a lever la. engages, the other hooked end of said lever /t carrying'a weight m, and this lever engages with the plunger S, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the dotted lines in said figure showing the position of the lever before the material in the mold has been compressed and the full lines of said Fig. 2 showing the lever after the material has been compressed.

In order to effect the vulcanization of the rubber or other material of which the disk and its ball are to be composed, the holder with the contained parts and the dust is placed in a suitable press and heat and pressure applied thereto and permitted to remain in the press until the inclosing head D has been forced down against the holder A, furnishing the stop therefor, and in order to hold the heads D and E to their seats or stops against the respective ends of the container A during the process of cooling each of those heads is provided with screw-threaded sockets it on opposite sides of the holder, in which sockets are screwed forked-end screws o, the forked ends of thesaid screws o in one of the inclosing heads of the holder A -as the lower head, for example-being provided with horizontallydisposed holes forming eyes to receive the pivot-pins j), to which pivot-pins are attached screw-bolts or I-bars fr, and when the screwbolts o' are swung to the position shown in Fig. 3 between the forked ends of the upper screws 0 o these screw-bolts 1' are securely held in position by the nuts s, as will be clearly understood from Fig. 3. After the two inclosing heads D and E are thus securely held together the container, with-its several contained parts, is removed from the vulcanized press for cooling. It will be understood that the weighted lever /L may be applied to the holder so as to exert its pressure on the plunger S either before the holder is put in the hydraulic press for the vulcanization or after the holder has been removed from the press, but before the holder and the rubber disk and IOO IIO

ISO

ball conformed between the i-nclosed dies have cooled and set, avertical slot being formed;

in the neck of the upper head D for the reception of the lever h, enabling it to move up and down in said slot to and away from the plunger S and also permitting the lever it to be wholly removed from the apparatus. After the parts have been sufficiently cooled the leverb is removed,I the linkd permitted to fall away, the'screw-bolts r released from the holder, and the'dies B and O and wedge N re'- moved `from the holder, and the product is also removed, being then fully conformed, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. If, as before stated, any teat T has been ,produced on the surface of the ball out of the excess of vulcanized material, this teat may be removed, and the disk is finished. l

If the material which forms the central core K be selected so that its coefficient of expansion and contraction is about equal to that of the hard rubber which is being used, the result is to produce in the manner hereinbefore explained a disk and ball'which will ybe uniformly vulcanized throughout the entire mass and'in consequence thereof will more nearly maintain and conform to the contour given it by the cavity of the conforming dies.

i for the purpose of saving rubber or for re- I am aware that forms of hard-rubber disks and balls for waterfmeters have been described and illustrated in which the balls are hollow hard rubber has been applied as a plating upon metal disks and also upon thin metal spheres; but the herein-described invention and the purposes, functions, and advantages thereof Vrelating to the production of ahard-rubber disk and ball foruse in awater-meter are new and by means of which a hard-rubber disk and ball are producedof a greater'degree of relative accuracy, homogeneity, and uniformity of strength than heretofore. i Where the solid spherical core for the ball is composed of a material whose coelicient of eXpansion and contraction is about equal to that of the hard rubber or other material -of which the disk is composed, a disk and-ball will be prod uc'ed of uniform density and homogeneity.

If, however, the solid central core should be fof a material whose coefficient of expansion and contraction is dissimilar to that of the hard rubber or other material of which thev v disk is to be produced, then the disk and the I do not limit my invention to its use 'withY rubber and rubber compounds per se, for it is obvious that my invention may be-utilized and availed of in the production of pistons composed of a disk and ball when it is'desired` `to produce the same of other suitable substances capable of being vulcanized, and'while lI have described my invention as especially applicable for `the production ofthe-piston composed of a disk and ball for use in watermeters per se, yet I do not limit my invention to the production of such pistons for use in water-meters alone, for it is obvious that my invention may be lemployed in the production of pistons composed of a ball and disk whether such pistons ybeused in water-meters per se or 1n any other similar or analogous structures-as, 'for example, engines, pumps, and

use in the production -of pistons for waterv meters and the like', yet Ido not limit my-in# Vvention thereto, since, as will be obvious, my

invention in its essential features is applicable to the production of other articles composed of hard rubber and similar vulcanizable substances requiring a high degree of accuracy- What I claim as my invention is- 1. As anew article of manufacture a piston for a water meter having a disk composed solely of vulcanized material and a ball composed of a solid core having the same coefli-` cient of contraction and expansion as the material of which thedisk is composed, and an envelop for the core composed of the same vulcanized material as the disk, substantially as set forth.

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2. As a new article of'manufacture a piston for a water-meter having a disk composed solely of vulcanized material and a ball having a solid core and an envelop for the core composed of the samel vulcanized material as the disk, said envelop being ofthe same thickness as the thickness of the disk, substantially as set forth.

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3. As a newarticleof manufacture a piston for a water -meter having a disk composed solely of solid vulcanized material, -a ball comf posed of a solid core, an envelop forthe core composed of the same vulcanized material as f the'disk and a spindle for the ball secured to the solid'cor'e, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 6th day of June, A.D. 1904. `f

f JOHN THOMSON. v

In presence ofe- ALF'RED W. KIDDLE, ATHONY N. J EsB'ERA. 

